Thursday, October 28, 2010

The boy in the pictures is probably one of the most striking examples of a black person with blue eyes. I believe his name is Laren Galloway and I do not announce his identity lightly. While it is interesting to see how the lad is growing up, this is not what caught my interest. Rather, what jumped out at me instantly was that he has some form of growing lesion on the inside of his left eye, specifically in the area of his iris. This lesion needs to be examined medically ASAP, (of course I leave room that his parents are already on top of it).

Eye lesions are usually benign (non-cancerous) and remain so, but this is not always true, nor does it mean that they should ever be ignored. What is really key is that they are kept under routine watch by a medically qualified eye specialist. What that person will watch for are changes in shape and size, as indications of brewing problems. Laren’s lesion, barely visible in the first picture, has clearly increased in size, as he has aged.

I have no contact with his family to voice my concern. I do recall that he might live in Louisiana. If you know this boy’s family or parents, please contact them and express the concern I present here. His eye sight and greater health/well-being are at risk without proper medical care. If you know this boy, but do not feel comfortable approaching his parents, you may send me contact information and I will contact them. Thanks (in advance) for helping to make sure this boy is being cared for.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

This blog typically attempts to recognize and, at times, bluntly reconcile the fall of our once great society, viewed through the lens of race (ethnicity). In today’s post, however, I will look through the lens of health.

While eating a public breakfast on Sunday, with what seemed like a herd of obesity, it dawned on me that if fat is the choking underbrush of our society, then flat screens are the match sticks lighting it up in TV rooms across America. Overeating, sedentary living, and resulting obesity are the sure remedies to relieving our society of the social, economic, and environmental burdens of too many people, whose health cost now exceed what they pay for it (coverage). In crude respects, it can’t happen fast enough.

Before our health care system completely collapses, or in the wake of it actually going under, providers, with the help of employers and the government, will withdraw medical support for obesity complications. The system will reach a point where it has to simply let obese people die, in a least-cost manner. Companies that are reaping huge profits from providing products and services to treat obese people, and their expensive downstream results, are going to fall on hard times. Mark my words.

So, if your business services those with heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, vascular disease, cancer, or arthritis, do not get too comfortable with all that dough that is currently rolling your way, in the form of health insurance payments. Your endless riches, based upon today’s behavior and economy, are on their way out. And yes, some of you may call me a hard-hearted bastard, but really I am the opposite. I care about everyone, but I can only advocate for those who care for themselves.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

When I once said that most right-minded Americans (especially blacks) should be afraid of black males on some level, I caught a lot of grief from some folks (here). But saying it on my blog and in the context of black male violence statistics is not the same as saying it on Bill O’Reilly’s rag of a show. On my blog, I can create a context for my boldness to be understood, as well as challenged. Juan afforded his comments about Muslims no such opportunity and this is what got him rightly fired.

Saying that fellow passengers, dressed as Muslims, give you boarding concerns, because of 9/11, right in the middle context of the polarizing Bill O’Reilly Show, is a whole other kettle of fish. Juan was throwing rabid-dog O’Reilly a ‘profiling’ bone with some special meat on it, to keep the right-wing masses stoked and clamoring for Muslim blood. O’Reilly does not care what Williams might have meant, and Juan should act like he knows this, or stay off his damn side-show.

Williams has been playing with fire for a while, as a recurring ‘liberal’ guest of O’Reilly’s. In this case, he got burned trying to straddle the line between being liberal, and pitching fat, juicy softballs to Bill. In truth, NPR has probably been impatiently waiting for Juan to get both feet out of bounds at the same time. His appearances on the Fox show were not in alignment with the journalistic image NPR seeks to portray. Juan should have known this. Look for him full-time on Fox.

As for Muslims on aircraft, they have every right to the same treatment as all the other passengers – no more or less. They should neither be exempt from intrusion, nor should they be singled out because of the 9/11 extremists. Juan needs to act like he understands that he could very easily be on the receiving end of a profiling-gone-bad, wherein he would be screaming that authorities not assume things about him, not in evidence.

On the other hand, all Muslims must recognize, just as black males should, that behaviors of members of the group will inevitably show up in how they as individuals, in certain context, are perceived and received. Whenever I see some Timothy McVeigh-looking white dude with a glazed out-of-place look, I keep at least one eye on him. I'm not saying it's right, but he better understand.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The only problem was that the olive branch was stuffed into the barrel of a gun. Nice try Virginia (Thomas)! The gesture came as a private voice message from the wife of the Supreme Court Justice, who faced sexual misconduct scrutiny twenty years ago on allegations at his confirmation hearings by Anita Hill, his employee at an earlier time. Ginny suggested that Ms. Hill apologize and explain herself. Huh?

I knew that Clarence has been sucking on a twenty year old bitter pill, from Hill’s allegations, but that was some ‘peaceful gesture’ (her words) his wife cooked up. Thomas, the Justice, has called now professor Hill his most ‘traitorous adversary’, so it’s not hard to imagine that he was at least cognizant that honey-baked Virginia was of the mind to do something really stupid. Perhaps she just forgot to take her meds that day, but I doubt it.

Anyway, Hill contacted the FBI to authenticate the message, which they did. Thomas, the crazy wife, has attracted other attention of late, in founding “Liberty Central”, a non-profit activist group to challenge the ‘tyranny of Obama’ and financed by anonymous backers. A better name might be “Whack job Central”.

I have a fews suggestions for the Justice, of whom I am no fan, "declare victory, swallow that pill, and move on dude"!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Different political factions within Germany would seem to be raising the bar on immigration, and I (for one) do not think this is a bad idea.

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel (pictured), stated recently that, ""Subsidising immigrants" isn't sufficient, Germany has the right to "make demands" on them, she added, such as mastering the language of Goethe and abandoning practices such as forced marriages." (here)

Alexander Dobrindt, of the conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) added his group's flavor by saying, “The USA is an immigration country. Germany is not an immigration country. We have a culture that has grown over centuries.” (here)

I would disagree with Dobrindt that America can somehow 'afford' an immigration policy that is more costly than it is beneficial. A common language, English, should be required in the US, and religious and cultural practices that conflict with constitutional freedoms and responsibilities should not be allowed. Amnesty for illegal immigration should be considered after the needs of legal citizens are met, and when the immigrant offers a skill we actually need. Cheap service labor is a short-sighted reason for open immigration policy. Employers of illegal immigrants should pay fines commensurate with the real cost of extending the bevy of services to them, until such time where the 'alien' and their dependents becomes a citizen, or is deported. Anchor-baby schemes need to be halted.

In Germany, as in other parts of Europe, you can certainly find your racists if you look, but immigration policies that subscribe new arriver's to a minimum set of requirements aligned with local social evolution are not automatically guilty of such.

Diversity is neither an automatic weakness or strength, rather it is certainly dependent on sensible policies of assimilation and accommodation - something in short supply around the world.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

The University of Mississippi retired its plantation owner school mascot, replacing him with a bear. Is this political correctness gone wild, or a sensible response to the state's 40% Black population that found the slavery era character offensive?

Note: This is a follow-up to an earlier post on interracial dating via Match.com (here).

I have a single (recently divorced) Black male friend in his early fifties, who used match.com to find the woman who just broke off their three-month relationship. He claimed the relationship was the stated best each had ever experienced, on all levels, except that she is (additionally), how shall we say, White. Each stated no race preference in their match profiles.

After a bit of probing, he revealed that he wants a woman of color, perhaps even a Black woman, although his ex-wife of twenty years, and the mother of his kids, is Asian. As background, this guy is tall/slim, fair-skinned, highly educated, and a financial professional with a very refined demeanor. He has dated all ethnicities, including White.

Any ideas about what is going on here? From the woman's perspective (in this case) is Match.com asking the right questions?

Sunday, October 03, 2010

When witnessing a debate on reparations, I often feel like I’m listening to people speaking completely different languages. Consider that when unarmed Black Oakland BART rider Oscar Grant was killed by a White police officer on a train platform, Blacks demanded a first-degree murder charge, although it had little chance of being sustained (no malice aforethought). While the accusation made Blacks feel good for a minute, the illusion of fair play departed when the jury opted for a more accurate charge.

When Blacks argue for reparations, it does not mean that they know or care anything about an accurate application. What they care about is a means to take revenge, while getting compensated for the suffering of their relatives (the end). Of course, Whites (and some Blacks) try to explain that reparations do not apply, to a chorus of ‘I-don’t-give-a-bleep what a White man or Uncle Tom thinks’. It’s not about laws or evolving moral codes of the day – it’s about emotion and payback. We need to call it what it is.

Reparations debates will never be resolved until Blacks can inject some objectivity where only emotions currently exist. For their part, Whites will never be a part of the resolution until they can cop to how reasonable it is for Blacks to blame slavery, as the catch basin, for the litany of misdeeds that continued after slavery ended.

Hopefully the day will come when Blacks stop soliciting unfulfilling indulgences from Whites, when what they really want is for Whites to admit that their ancestors outsmarted themselves, not only by kidnapping Africans, but more so by not making Blacks equal opportunity citizens after the emancipation. Both Blacks and Whites need to work (together), minus race cards, at understanding how pretend equality (of opportunity), the sustained post-slavery sin, got us to the dysfunctional mess we find ourselves today. Only then can we start making decisions and taking action to reverse the damage.

Friday, October 01, 2010

In 1945, Vernon Baker rallied black troops after their white commander deserted. They captured a German stronghold in Italy, taking out three machine gun nests, two bunkers and an observation post. But he did not receive his award for more than half a century, and no black soldiers received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for battlefield valor, during that era. An Army study initiated in the early 1990s concluded Baker and several other men had been denied the award because of racism. Baker and six other black World War II veterans received medals posthumously at a 1997 White House ceremony. He was the only Black WWII hero to receive his award while still alive.

Baker died July 13, 2010, St. Maries, Idaho. He was 90, and a genuine great American hero. Gone, but not forgotten.

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